whitequark changed the topic of #tinyqma to: design of an open hardware DDS-based QMA with a low-voltage dc/rf stage :: http://irclog.whitequark.org/tinyqma
<bofh__> you're referring to the pipette bulbs/eppendorf apparata that you use to draw liquids into them? there's a few different names depending on which you use
<bofh__> also I've done it before, in a lab at school as well.
<whitequark> yeah i mean, it's usually fine
<whitequark> but HNO3 vapors are really unpleasant
<bofh__> granted, I wouldn't do that with nitric acid but conc. nitric acid is one of those things that I don't really want near me
<bofh__> yeah
<bofh__> oh god this reminds me of the time I spilled silver nitrate on my arm
<whitequark> hahahaha
<bofh__> wash it off, think nothing of it
<whitequark> how long was it black
<bofh__> walk outside later, it's ~14:30 in direct sun and it, uh, develops
<bofh__> over a month, took months to fade fully
<whitequark> amazing
<bofh__> the lab was really poorly lit and I liked working in relative dark, so not much happened until then and what little did I didn't notice.
<bofh__> also characterization of Poettering:
<bofh__> <long list of flaws with idea>
<bofh__> "The advantages of the scheme clearly outweigh the complexities it causes."
<whitequark> oh god
<bofh__> like it doesn't matter which project, I just realised this applies to everything
<bofh__> also goddamnit if you're going to make a hard-to-parse binary syslog format and only put a lot of info there that's needed to debug anything if things break, it would be nice if it was, like, at all resilient to file corruption. or at the very least not absurdly prone to it.
<bofh__> like for something of that level of importance I'd honestly use two-level cross-interleaved Reed-Solomon FEC or something. who cares, it's a logfile, ~5% overhead is not significant (especially if one of your main selling points is a much larger DECREASE in it).
<bofh__> (in a similar category, why is ECC RAM not standard on, like, everything)
<whitequark> yea
<bofh__> so, like, apparently 3.5W InGaN laser diodes are a thing now. 9mm can.
<bofh__> that still just boggles the mind a bit.
<bofh__> (that's 3.5W optical output power)
<whitequark> oh
<whitequark> whoa
<bofh__> "class4" you don't say :P
<whitequark> massive
<whitequark> do you have a good understanding of optical microscopes?
<bofh__> Not terribly, honestly. I understand basic optics but O
<bofh__> I've never had much experience in visual/optical anything.
<whitequark> ah
<whitequark> thinking if I should get a 15MP touptek camera instead of my current 3MP one
<whitequark> it costs, er, $500
<whitequark> I have a mirrorless camera with 20MP sensor (sony alpha 3000), but I dunno which of these is better